Luka Modric admits no one can replace Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid No. 10 Luka Modric has admitted Los Blancos have failed to find a suitable replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Juventus last summer

The Portuguese superstar left the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu after nine years of service, but no one in Real has expected his absence will leave such a mark on the most successful club on the planet.

In their first season without Ronaldo, the defending European champions have struggled to cope with Barcelona in La Liga, allowing the Blaugrana to run away with the title 12 games before the final fixture.

Furthermore, unlike some previous years, the Madrid giants are dealing with immense problems in the final third as they lack a man who guaranteed 50 goals per season.

Los Merengues have also suffered two back-to-back defeats to bitter rivals in a five-day sequence – both on home soil, as they now prepare for the Champions League clash with Ajax.

Ahead of Real Madrid’s trip to Amsterdam, the FIFA Ballon d’Or winner has come out with an honest confession, admitting this team lack Cristiano’s presence in all aspects.

“Given what he did for us and this club, we miss Cristiano. The club wanted the other players to make up for what he did, divided between the strikers and that is not easy,” he stated.

Luka Modric on Cristiano Ronaldo: "Cristiano is a player who any team would miss. To find a replacement for Cristiano is almost impossible." pic.twitter.com/aZxp6MCfRw

“Cristiano scored 50 goals and you can’t find someone today who scores that many. Some of us have to take a step forward and, while not scoring 50, what we need is two or three players who score 15, 20, or 10 goals and we don’t have that.

“That is our biggest problem this year. For example against Barca in the cup, we had many chances and when you don’t take advantage, your opponent punishes you.

“The club tried, and it seems good, putting faith in other players like Gareth [Bale], [Marco] Asensio, Karim [Benzema]; they brought in Mariano, Vinicius is here.

“[Vinicius] is doing very well for the age he is but sometimes things don’t go how we wanted them to.”